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December 1, 1946 W H A T IS THE BIBLE? P sa . 119:105-112
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dwelleth no good thing. He speaks of the unsaved as children of the devil, children of wrath, and helpless under the power of darkness. This represents His diagnosis of the nat ural man who has not yet been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder He calls us to come to Him for life. 3. THE B I B L E REVEALS GOD’S WAYS TO MAN. Psa. 119:105. The Bible tells us that Enoch walked with God and God was so pleased that He took him away to be with Him self without dying. From it we learn that Moses talked with God, and that by his earnest prayers and self-ef facement he preserved the nation of Israel. It contains the record of Paul who worked with and for God and thereby spread the life-giving Gospel into many heathen countries. It in forms how God miraculously pre served Israel when they needed food, water, and meat. It records how Paul sang while he suffered and how Da vid wrote the Third Psalm while be ing pursued by his son, Absalom. It relates how the great man, Isaiah, was cleansed by the live coal from the altar and Israel preserved by the Passover Lamb. It reveals to us that God saves our souls on the basis of the death of a sacrifice. Let us learn the lesson. 4. THE BIBLE REVEALS GOD’S ETERNAL PLANS. Psa. 119:9. In the Bible we learn God’s plan concerning the future of the physical earth, the future of the church, the final place that Israel will occupy, and the eternal destiny of Satan and of sinners. God reveals that He plans to destroy this earth by fire. It is even now stored with fire against that great day. He reveals that it is His plan to send Satan to the lake of fire, together with all who follow him. He reveals that Israel is to be the head of the nations and shall yet rule all the nations of this earth. The true church, composed of born-again Chris tians, will one day reign with Christ. God tells us that the false church, Romanism and her daughters, is to be utterly punished. What a blessing we have in reading about God’s plan for us and for the world.
December 8, 1946 THE BIBLE IN EVERY TONGUE I sa . 34:1 VTO OTHER book in all the world has received the attention that has been given to the Bible. Already it has been translated into over one thousand tongues and dialects. Hun dreds of men and women are now working on other languages in order to give the message of God’s love to all people. The Wycliffe Translators are today training hundreds of stu dents in the blessed art of reducing strange dialects to writing, so that the Bible may be given to the people to read. The American Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society, as well as other groups, are spending much time and money on this great project. This alone reveals the great value of the Word of God to bring light and life to darkened hearts. 1. DIFFICULTIES IN SOUND. 1 Cor. 14:8. A large number of languages and dialects express themselves in pecul iar sounds which are quite unlike the English language. The tone of voice has much to do with the mean ing of a word in some languages. The aspiration of the breath in some lan guages expresses a different meaning. The time of aspiration determines the meaning of the word in some in stances. Whether the sound comes through the nasal passages, or from the throat or from the lips, determines the meaning conveyed by a word, also. Thus, the servant of God who desires to reduce the language to writing is faced with extreme difficulty. But many are giving their lives to this great enterprise and we rejoice that they are. 2. DIFFICULTIES WITH WORDS. 1 Cor. 14:9. Words in sopie languages do not al ways convey the thoughts that the missionary intends to give. Our use of words is quite different in many respects from the use made of them by foreigners. Those who speak through an interpreter find this to be true. Our words express our thoughts but those same words may not ex- TH E K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
rpHE BIBLE is a book written by the -*■ fingers of men by the command ment of God. It contains God’? thoughts, instructions, and revelation?, that He wants man to have about time and eternity. Every word of it came frqm God. In it we find the be ginning of the material creation, th? sphere of God’s grace; a record of the beginning of man, the subject of God’? grace; the story of sin which made God’s grace necessary; the beginning of sacrifice, the means of God’s grace: the beginning of Israel, the channel of God’s grace; the beginning an 40
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